Killie News A Publication of the Minnesota Killie Keepers Association An affiliate of the American Killifish Association (AKA) February 2006 Minnesota Killie Keepers Association Board of Directors President: Milo Squires 952 448-4153 Secretary: Jenny Kruckenberg 651-457-2302 e-mail: milo_squires@datacard.com e-mail: jennyk@usfamily.net Treasurer: Craig Rees 952-403-6038 Editor: Robin Engelking 763-560-5038 e-mail: crees@mn.rr.com e-mail: raqbe@usinternet.com General Member: Carter McAninch 763-784-4937 e-mail: _carter_mc@excite.com Committee Positions: Show Chairs: Milo Squires & Craig Rees Web Site: www.mkka.net Table of Contents: Page 2 January meeting minutes Page 3 I Opened Up a Can of Whoop Rash by Greg Simpson Page 4 Gary & Andy cartoon by Greg Simpson Page 4 SYLC points Page 5 Support Your Local club rules Page 6 Meeting notice Page 6 Calendar of Events From the Editor: The Minnesota Aquarium Society s annual show is Saturday, March 25 th and Sunday March 26 th. As a club we will be sponsoring a trophy for Best Killifish of Show. We also want to encourage our members to enter a pair of fish in the show. It doesn t matter if the fish aren t show quality. We want to get people interested in our hobby, and most of the people attending will probably never have seen a killifish. The more killies we have available for people to see, the more likely they are to develop an interest. Who can resist those beautiful colors? You can contact the MAS show chair, Mike Fries, at masshowchair@yahoo.com for more info on entering the show. Let s have a great turnout this year! Happy fish keeping! Robin Page 1
The January 19 th 06 meeting was held at the new home of Brentt & Emily Helland near St. Bonifacius. In attendance were: Bruce Cameron, Robin Engelking, Greg Goodnow, Brentt and Emily, Brian Helland (Brentt s brother), Jen Kruckenberg, Carter McAninch, Bob Randall (welcome!), Milo Squires plus Bella (theyorkie pup) MAS Show We had a discussion on the racks. Should we use our current (black) racks or shall we go with what MAS provides? We all agree it would be nice if attendees could SEE the killies without having to use flashlights. If we stuck with our racks, could we use some sort of rope lighting behind the tanks? Greg says he has some rope lights and would be willing to borrow them to us. Would it help if we used clear plastic tops vs. the Kritter Keeper tops? If we used the MAS racks, could we place a black backdrop behind the tanks or how about using Black Beauty gravel? Consensus was that the gravel would be a hassle during tear down. It s nice to be able to bag the fish and dump the water. Discussion on where to obtain sand blasting by-product at a company called Sterling. All the killie stuff is now stored at Craig s. Milo suggested that MKKA sponsor the Best of Killifish class. Cost of sponsorship is $50. The four individual killie classes are $25 each. Contact Mike Fries if you would like to sponsor a class. We had a discussion on soliciting donations from companies. Someone heard there could be as many as 200 companies to send donation letters to, but most don t think there are that many. Box Exchange: We would like to do one with an East Coast club sometime this spring. Monthly meetings: Robin is still checking with Gary Palubicki if he may host a meeting for April. Order with Rehoboth: Milo will be placing an order soon. They offer some rare killies from West Africa. Milo will also be making a salt run. If anyone needs Purex salt, let Milo know. Other misc. stuff: The Trans-Mississippi Biological Supply Co. has placed Craig s killie business cards out on their counter. Jen may be ordering some glassworms. Milo likes them as a live food, but advises that there can be some problems when feeding them to Nothobranchius. They develop a fungus that quickly overtakes their body beginning on the tail and traveling towards the head. Jen wants to know if anyone has kept Jordanella floridae. Robin and Bruce have, but not with great luck. Robin found them to be a bit belligerent. They appreciate some salt, hard water and veggies. More discussion on other fish..greg has orange chromides (Etroplus maculates) at his Rochester pet store on occasion. Guppies-a-go-go! Several persons remembered Californian guppies that were available in the late 70s. They were really LARGE and available for about five years, but no one has seen them since. Bruce brought two worm cultures to the meeting. One was grindal worms originating from Jen. One was grindal worms originating from the WAKO show. They looked very different. The larger worms (from WAKO) may be white worms. Jen will bring her white worm culture to a future MKKA meeting so we can compare them. Well that s about all folks!! Respectfully submitted, Jen K. Page 2
Killifish Lonely Hearts Club If you have a lone fish, male or female, here is the perfect place to look for that perfect mate. If you have any fish you want included in next month s listing, e-mail Robin at raqbe@usinternet.com I Opened Up a Can of Whoop Rash! by Greg A. Simpson I can t even count the number of aquarium cleaning I have completed over the past 37+ years. Perhaps if I did know the number I d be surprised and amazed at the time spend doing this often boring but necessary task. When I worked at the Heights Pet Center for my six year stint, I know I cleaned a lot of tanks! I was never one for worrying about how wrinkled my hands would get let alone how fishy smelling my hands were after I cleaned tanks I m a hobbyist and I know my way around a scrub brush, sponge and elbow grease. I d of course wash my hands with hand soap to clean and disinfect the cuts or abrasions that happen with cleaning tanks. No worries, no problems, just doing what has to be done. This all changed for me just within the last year or so. In my fish room after cleaning tanks I d notice that my skin was itchy and small red bumps would develop. Hmm well I just ignored it for awhile and finally I realized that perhaps I may be developing skin sensitivities. I did some research and decided I had to take action to keep the irritations down and more importantly, keep me safe. I invested in a pair of aqua gloves. They come as a set and have thick rubber protection for the hands, and sleeves that go all the way up to my arm pits. This took care of the problem. So you see this old hobbyist can still be trained! λ I came across the following article in a 2004 newsletter issue from the Greater Cincinnati Killifish Association and it is reprinted here with their permission. Aquarium Rashes? Got a rash on your arms or hands? Been working in your aquarium recently? Rashes and scratches are not uncommon among aquarists. We get them from the edges of hoods and frames, from the sharp edges on glass covers, and from rough-edged rocks used as décor, especially when we have been working with our hands and arms deep inside a tank. Ordinary frame abrasion can be further irritated by the mineral encrustations left by splashing water and breaking bubbles from filters and airstones. Add to that the accumulation of gunk along the rim algae, bacteria, decaying fish food and you have a ripe area of irritation that can trigger allergic reactions in some people. These are usually fairly minor in nature and can be easily treated with antibiotic or anti-itch salves as required. But there are sometimes more serious effects. In freshwater tanks, Mycobacterium fortuitum can result in swelling and reddened, raised lumps in humans, usually on the Page 3
hands and fingers, which are cooler than the more muscular arms. These infections can be difficult to treat, even with antibiotics prescribed by a doctor. Irritations and/or infections may also occur where an aquarist received an injury from a fish spine, or partway up the arm, from rubbing against the aquarium frame. If symptoms persist, see a doctor, and be sure to mention that you keep fish and have been cleaning aquaria. If you re particularly sensitive, you may want to use long rubber gloves when working in your tanks. Reference: Wickham, Mike. If you have an aquarium and a rash welcome to the hobby. Freshwater Q&A, Aquarium Fish Magazine, March 2004, p. 10. The Adventures of Gary Gardneri and Andy Australe Andy I knew you were hungry but did you have to eat ALL of Craig s black worms? Support Your Local Club Point Totals: Member point class Point Total Brent Aitchison attend meeting 1 0 John Alegre 0 0 Clay Anderson 0 0 Guy Bagley & 0 0 Howie Galoff Ed Brandt 0 0 Bruce Cameron attend meeting 1 1 Bob Carter 0 0 Robin Engelking attend meeting 1 1 Greg Goodnow attend meeting 1 1 Sara Goodnow 0 0 Gaylon Hafer 0 0 Brentt Helland host meeting 6 6 Emily Helland host meeting 6 6 Rick Ivik 0 0 Ted Jolivette 0 0 Tom Kean 0 0 Mike Kromrey 0 0 Jenny Kruckenberg attend meeting 1 1 Carter McAninch attend meeting 1 1 John Metzgar 0 0 Bob Morenski 0 0 Alex Moroz 0 0 Don Mortenson 0 0 Gary Palubicki 0 0 Ernie Plutko 0 0 Craig Rees 0 0 Terry Scepurek 0 0 Greg Simpson art for KN 15 15 Page 4
article for KN 15 30 Nancy Swanson 0 0 Milo Squires attend meeting 1 1 Erin Yapp 0 0 Brad Swanson 0 0 Greg Simpson has taken an early lead due to his cartoons and articles. I am overjoyed to have so much interesting stuff to put in our newsletter. Thank-you, Greg! If you have any concerns about points, e-mail me at raqbe@usinternet.com. Support Your Local Club (SYLC) Rules: Points are accumulated as follows: 1 Donate fish for auction at monthly meeting 5 pts 2 Send fish to out of town shows a) participation/entries 5 pts/pair b) First place 3 pts c) Second place 2 pts d) Third place 1 pt 3 Bowl show at monthly meetings a) participation/entries 5 pts/pair b) First place 3 pts c) Second place 2 pts d) Third place 1 pt 4 Submit an article, artwork or pictures for the Killie News 15 pts 5 Give a program about killies to a local club 15 pts 6 Give a program at an MKKA meeting 10 pts 7 Host a meeting 6 pts 8 Attend a monthly meeting 1 pt 9 Donate a plant or piece of equipment 1 pt/item 10 Donate a live food culture 1 pt 11 Bring a new person to a meeting 1 pt 12 Have a friend join MKKA 5 pts 13 Help out at the annual show 1 pt/day 14 - Special functions to be determined by the board To be determined 15 Other special events as determined by the BOD 1 pt/day Photos by Jen Kruckenberg Taken at the 2005 MKKA show. Which fish are these Jen? Page 5
Direction's to Mike Kromrey s house: Take Highway 65 north to 219th Avenue. Turn left at 219th and follow to the stop sign at 217th lane. Turn right onto 217th. Mike's house is the second one on the right. 1069-217th Lane East Bethel 763-434-3456 MKKA 2005 Calendar of Events: Saturday, February 25, 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Mike Kromrey. This meeting will be a pot luck dinner. Mike and Erin would like us to arrive at 6:00 pm. 763-434-3456. Thursday, March 16, 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Bob Carter. Thursday April 20, 2006 is open. Thursday, May 19, 2006 is open Thursday, June 15, 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Milo Squires. 952-448-4153 July 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Brad & Nancy Swanson. August 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Carter McAninch. September 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Robin Engelking 763-560-5038. October 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Jenny Kruckenberg. November 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Craig Rees. 952-403-6038. December 2006 is scheduled to be at the home of Milo Squires. We need to elect officers this month. 952-448-4153. Page 6